Hey, Mike - I noticed one slight factual error in your description of the Mini P180 - you stated that the only other Antec mATX case with a separate PSU chamber is the NSK-3480. This is incorrect - the NSK-2480 is a mATX case with a separate PSU chamber. Granted it is in 'desktop' configuration rather than mini-tower, but it is still a mATX case with a separate PSU chamber.

I would have loved to have read the measurements and subjective conclusions on the top 200mm hooked up to a viable resistor and set to its lowest start-up voltage. Though I realise this can vary from fan to fan.

I think I'll be replacing my P180 with this as the case is just too damned big. It will mean I have to get a new mATX mobo but ho-hum. I'll probably just stick with a 120mm Nexus undervolted if that fan is still quite chattery.

Hey, Mike - I noticed one slight factual error in your description of the Mini P180 - you stated that the only other Antec mATX case with a separate PSU chamber is the NSK-3480. This is incorrect - the NSK-2480 is a mATX case with a separate PSU chamber. Granted it is in 'desktop' configuration rather than mini-tower, but it is still a mATX case with a separate PSU chamber.

Another terrific article, and further proof that objectivity is not dead on the internet (yet). (I'm still trying to put my head around where the Ninja will fit in in the future, but I'm also really, really glad that you brought up the issue of late. I'm not sure other sites might have done the same.)

If a reader were to purchase this case and wanted to make the fans more silent with a fanbus, would there be room between the front panel and the 5.25" drive bays to close the door? If not a larger Zalman 5.25" then maybe a small Vantec/Nexus 3.5"?

Please continue the excellent reviews.

Best regards,
--Dave

p.s.--Minor typo, I think, in the second sentence of the second picture's caption on page 5, where "there's one inch of space between the fan at the partition wall above it" might better read with "and" replacing "at."

Excellent article. I'd just like to make you aware of a certain mATX mobo with SLI. Granted, it's an old Socket 939 nForce4 design (no longer available?), but it exists.

Ah, so! Good find. I wonder if there are uptodate dual-PCIe16x slot mATX boards?

BTW, I did a doublecheck on the optical drive depth needed to fit one into the top bay. 170mm or shorter will work, and 170mm is not that hard to find. So I was wrong about being forced to use this case on the desktop due to optical drives only fitting on the bottom.

Excellent article. I'd just like to make you aware of a certain mATX mobo with SLI. Granted, it's an old Socket 939 nForce4 design (no longer available?), but it exists.

Ah, so! Good find. I wonder if there are uptodate dual-PCIe16x slot mATX boards?

BTW, I did a doublecheck on the optical drive depth needed to fit one into the top bay. 170mm or shorter will work, and 170mm is not that hard to find. So I was wrong about being forced to use this case on the desktop due to optical drives only fitting on the bottom.

I'm glad you made that error, it's always better to err on the side of caution. It's a lot easier for me to measure my existing drives than for me to order a case assuming it won't be an issue.

Kudos to you for mentioning the possibility of an issue and for giving the details to figure out if it applies to the potential customers.

_________________.Please put a country in your profile if you haven't already.This site is international but I'll assume you are in the US if you don't tell me otherwise.RAID levels thread http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=388987

Well done review.but with the small motherboard in a larger sized case im curious who will endup using this thing.

Me. I don't care about the size, it's not like I would take it to LAN-parties or my rent would be affected by how large the case of my second PC is.

Got my lovely new P180 Mini today. I have no idea how I thought the frontpanel details were "chrome"colored, must be some old image with weird reflections that has burnt into my memory.

Anyway so far I'm very pleased with the case. I had earlier experience only of the original P180 and the cable management in the Mini and the P182 is just awesome. The cables of my PSU are a tad too short (4pin extra 12V had to be routed the shortest way), but other than that the assembly was very easy. The case also takes 8800GTS 512MB with the lower HDD cage on, but I'd say there really is room for only three HDDs.

The huge fan is pretty quiet, but I still dislike it as it can't really be replaced. I really hope that these huge fans will get more popular and that Nexus/Scythe/Noctua will start making replacements for the stock fans.

I had a question as I am considering downsizing from my P182 to a Mini P180... I plan on buying the ASUS motherboard listed here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131237 along with either a Scythe Ninja or a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme... can anyone tell me if that will fit in the mini P180? I dont wanna buy the parts and then find out later with everything installed that i can't stick on the side panel, haha...

you're killing me here, you did this great followup on the big fan at low rpm, but you didn't review it inside the case! It was like you left out the payoff! In vitro vs in vivo man, you've got to hit the important one

Just last week or so it was on sale for around $110 but $20 shipping. The white version was on sale for about $125 with free shipping so actually cost less. It was a little tempting there. But $80 shipped, I couldn't help myself. I liked it since I first saw it but had this idea I was going to build a custom made case. Still hasn't happened and probably never will. So this will replace my old Dell Precision 410 case which will probably become my new server case.

You ask, "Who is this case for?" A better question might be "What is this case for?"
I just got one of these to house my WHS machine. It's close enough to perfect for me. A small footprint, oodles of drive bays, with decent airflow. As it's a Home Server box, it need not be near my immediate space. It may not be quiet enough for a desktop situation, but it's not all that bad either.

As for working within it's confines? It's a pleasure. This is one nicely crafted box.
I paired it with a Gigabyte MA74GM-2SH (AMD's die-shrunk 690 chipset w/ 6 SATA ports) with an AMD BE-2350.
Housing 5 drives and their cabling was a breeze - And I had a port leftover to feed the E-SATA. But here's the thing. Even though the mobo is tapped out, the case has room for a couple more drives.

With WHS, you need to be able to put some drives in the box. You don't need fire breathing horsepower (and cooling) You need drive bays. For a WHS box, it's tough to ask for a better product.

Connecting the USB PortsYou will find a single 10-pin connector on a cable attached to the front USB ports.This Intel standard connector is keyed so that it canâ€™t be accidentally reversed, aslong as it is connected to a proper Intel standard motherboard header. Connect the10-pin connector to your motherboard headers so that the blocked pin fits over themissing header pin.

Not true. There is 2 x 5min cable, it even has label "2.0 USB1" and second "2.0 USB2". So it should say two separata cables.

Am I right? I didn't have the guts to connect them since my mobo manual (GA-MA78GPM-DS2H" said that do not connect the 2 x 5 pin cable... but its for FireWire.

Connecting the USB PortsYou will find a single 10-pin connector on a cable attached to the front USB ports.This Intel standard connector is keyed so that it canâ€™t be accidentally reversed, aslong as it is connected to a proper Intel standard motherboard header. Connect the10-pin connector to your motherboard headers so that the blocked pin fits over themissing header pin.

Not true. There is 2 x 5min cable, it even has label "2.0 USB1" and second "2.0 USB2". So it should say two separata cables.

Am I right? I didn't have the guts to connect them since my mobo manual (GA-MA78GPM-DS2H" said that do not connect the 2 x 5 pin cable... but its for FireWire.

I want a confirmation that there is a typo in the manual.

Can't say whether this type of hardware always stays the same in all cases. Chances are, it varies depending on suppliers/sources. In any case, the USB pin configuration of both 10-pin connectors (of which only 9 are usable and 8 actually wired) and 5-pin connectors (of which only 4 are wired) is the same. The sequence is black-green-white-red --- with the red wire on the last pin. Just check the motherboard manual carefully and compare it to the connectors before plugging it in. Comparing against the plug from a back-panel USB expansion port may also be helpful (such devices come bundled with motherboards.)

Just wanted to share what I've done with my P180 mini regarding the 20cm ceiling exhaust:

On top, I've removed the entire plastic "racing stripes" frame, cut an appropriate sized hole in the mesh, and removed the x-shaped backplate for the 20cm fan.

The fan is attached with zip ties, the heads of which are larger than both the remaining mesh and the fan's screw holes. Above the fan is a silicon thing available from EndPCNoise, and below it, underneath the zip tie heads, are four rubber washers.

I have had a chance to have a close look at one of these now .
I absolutely hate the 200mm fan , the chevron shaped holes do not concern me . I found the case to be about the same size as a Sonata - very large for micro ATX . but it looks as though , with some modification that it could make a decent quiet build for a pretty hot quad core (in my case a Phenom ).
I am looking quite seriously at one of these as a replacement for a SUGO build that has gone sour due to the fact that it has mediocre ventilation (it runs quite cool with fans at full speed but is VERY noisy or it runs quiet with the fans slowed down but is hot enough to be unusable )
The Machine is hardly high end .
Asus M3N-VM , Phenom 9850 . 2 gig Kingston 1066 , Pioneer DVD burner , 2 x Samsung hard drives and an MSI GF 8800gt graphics card powered by an Antec Neo HE 500 power supply .
The mini 180 would keep this cool quietly - very easily . Only 3 things are holding me back from buying one right now (1) the 200 mm fan (2) the size of the case (3) the restriction on the length of the video card with the drive cage in .
I have a personal dislike for optical drive mounting rails but can live with them ( I have with my other Antec cases for many years .

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